Columbia University Athletics

NEW YORK — Columbia junior Camille Zimmerman has been named the All-Met Division I women's college basketball Player of the Year. The Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) announced its annual award winners and All-Met Teams on Tuesday.

Zimmerman will be honored Wednesday, April 26, at the 84th NIT/MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner at the Westchester Marriott, Tarrytown, N.Y. She is the first Columbia women's basketball player to be selected All-Met Player of the Year since its inception in 1996, and the first Lion on the men's or women's side to earn the distinction since the late Jim McMillian ‘70CC, who was selected three times from 1968-70.

Five others joined Zimmerman on the All-Met First Team: Aaliyah Lewis and Jade Walker, St. John's; Robin Perkins, Rider; G'mrice Davis, Fordham; Madison Hovren, Army West Point. Players from the metropolitan area's 19 Div. I schools were up for consideration, which includes Army, Columbia, Fairfield, Fairleigh Dickinson, Fordham, Hofstra, Iona, LIU Brooklyn, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, NJIT, Rider, Rutgers, Sacred Heart, St. Francis, St. John's, St. Peter's, Seton Hall, Stony Brook and Wagner. This is Zimmerman's second All-Met selection, landing on the Second Team as a sophomore.

A 6-1 junior guard/forward from Tempe, Arizona, Zimmerman – who led the Ivy League in scoring and rebounding – paced the Lions with 22.5 ppg (10th nationally) and 9.6 rpg (37th in NCAA). She also had 67 assists (2.5 apg), 41 steals (1.5 spg) and posted 13 double-doubles to lead the Ivy League and place 34th in the nation. She led the Ivy League in seven statistical categories, and ranked among the top 50 nationally in eight. Zimmerman set single-season Columbia records for total points (608) and scoring average, and is now second on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,408 points, 39 shy of the program's best.

Zimmerman, a unanimous First Team All-Ivy League selection, set single-season Columbia records for total points (608) and scoring average, and is now second on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,408 points, 39 shy of the program best. She is the seventh player in Ivy League women's basketball history to score 600 points in a season, ranking sixth on the list. In Ivy League play, the junior wingman topped all players at 24.4 points per game, which was more than seven points better than the next-highest scorer. Her 342 total points through the 14-game schedule are the fourth-most in league history. Zimmerman also led all players through league competition in defensive rebounds (7.4) and minutes played (39.2), while her 9.6 rebounds per Ivy League game were the second-highest mark.

The highlight of Zimmerman's season came in late January, when she averaged 29.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals in games against Dartmouth and Harvard. She hit career-highs of 37 points, 19 rebounds and four steals in a 91-88, quadruple-overtime victory at Dartmouth, which tied for the longest game in Ivy League women's basketball history. The following night at Harvard, she netted a game-high 22 points and filled the stat sheet with eight rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) named Zimmerman the Women's National Player of the Week, while NCAA.com featured the standout on its Starting Five Players of the Week.

Zimmerman scored in double figures in all 27 games of the 2016-17 season, including 21 20-point games and two 30-point games. The Ivy League named Zimmerman Player of the Week five times.

2016-17 All-Met Awards – Div. I Women

Player of the Year: Camille Zimmerman, Columbia
Maggie Dixon Coach of the Year: Lynn Milligan, Rider
Rookie of the Year: Rebekah Hand, Marist (5-11, fr, G, Argyle, TX)
 
First Team

Second Team

Third Team